An East Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “In the first six hours of 2016 we received over 1,000 calls. At the busiest time we received a new call every 18 seconds. We usually get an average of 2,000 calls in 24 hours on a normal day.”

He added via Twitter: “We received 81 calls in the first 30 minutes after midnight, 177 calls in the first hour and just under 400 calls in the first two hours.”

Chief Inspector Phil Vickers, who was on duty overseeing operations overnight for Lincolnshire, said it had been a quiet, good natured evening up until midnight with only around 100 999 calls all day and just 16 people in custody in the county (14 males and two females), but within an hour or so of the chimes of midnight things got very busy.

He said: “In the first 50 minutes of 2016 Lincolnshire Police Force Control Room received 51 urgent 999 calls.”

By 5.20am on New Year’s Day the force had 42 detained in custody.

At the busiest time we received a new call every 18 seconds. We usually get an average of 2,000 calls in 24 hours on a normal day

East Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman

He said the majority of those in custody were as a result of drink-related assaults and drink or drug-related driving arrests. He saw this as particularly disappointing after the ongoing campaign to deter drivers from taking drink or drugs.

Ch Insp Vickers had a big thank you to the Special Constables working overnight, bolstering the service with their dedicated efforts and thanked the ambulance and fire service for their efforts too.

He added that the first call of 2016 was a complaint about fireworks being let off in the street. People were also releasing sky lanterns, despite repeated warnings about the damage they can do to crops, rural buildings if the burning lights land among them and injury to livestock if the fallen parts are eaten.